Thursday 22nd to Friday 23rd February – Chilling at Rawai Beach

Time for some pool-side relaxing

Thursday - Having passed out before 9pm last night I was awake about 530am but enjoyed relaxing and not having to worry about being anywhere else today.  Our first important appointment was with our included breakfast.

Then it was off to the pool for some serious relaxing.  People working hard for a living on the old nine to five won’t want to hear this… but travelling is exhausting!  I don’t expect any sympathy.  It’s great.  But we’ve hardly stopped whilst in New Zealand and now, here we are, without a plan in the world or a clue where we’ll be next week.  Exciting!  I need a lie down….

A couple of turtle doves also enjoying the pool

Having topped up our tans we did some more relaxing in our room before heading out to find some cheap Thai food.  I enjoyed my first Phad Thai of many to come.  It’s definitely the food and drink that make staying here cheaper – beers and a main meal each for about £12.  And we could have gone cheaper…. Still adjusting, we agreed on an early night as it felt like the middle of the night to us.

Friday - We were awake in good time again and spoke to reception about moving on to Koh Phi Phi tomorrow (Koh is the Thai word for Island, that’s why they’re all called Koh something and why I’m not putting Koh Phi Phi Island because that would be like saying island island).  Having searched and failed to find a visitor centre nearby (I know) we decided that it’s probably best to allow our hotel to help us book something.  Especially when we can get to Phi Phi for THB 600 (THB=Thai Baht) including a transfer taxi from the hotel – that’s just over a tenner each.  Maybe this island-hopping thing is going to be cheap after all!

See the tiny red arrow pointing to Phi Phi?!  Thailand is big!

But having been here over 24 hours we both have names of islands and things to see swimming around our heads.  It’s great that we have picked up tips from lots of people, but now we are confused where we want to go, which ocean the islands are in and what route we are going to take.  We needed to have a brain storm…. And make a table!  The priority here for us is diving.  We started there, finding advice on the best dive sites and, excitingly, finding out that we are here at the right time of year to try and see manta rays and whale sharks.  Oh my goodness, that would be amazing!  The problem – the best way to try and see them is to go to the Similan Islands on a liveaboard dive boat trip for a minimum of three days.  I have only ever been on one liveaboard when I first learnt to dive in Oz all those years ago.  I’ve always told Simon that we should do one because you get soooo much diving in.  So, despite it being possibly the worst time financially, we CAN’T not do it!  Simon found a three-day trip with a 25% discount leaving on 15^th March.  That’s got our name all over it and we will then dovetail the rest of our Thai adventure around that.  It’s too good an opportunity to miss and it works out about £120 each per day but that includes accommodation, all meals and snacks and FOUR dives, which is really good value for money.  I’m very excited.  But that’s three weeks away!  Before that, we have planned a rough route taking in as many of the suggested islands as we can, initially on the west coast in the Andaman Sea, followed by a couple of nights at some of the ‘party islands’ on the east coast in the Gulf of Thailand, followed by a jaunt up to Chiang Mai, back for the diving trip and finishing in Bangkok. Phew….. let’s see what happens as we adapt to a whole new way of travelling in planes, trains and boats whilst lugging all of our baggage around.

After a few hours planning I needed to clear my head with some more pool time whilst Simon sorted out his mega-update on Facebook for the South Island of NZ.  

Heading the opposite way along Rawai beach to last night we stumbled on the jetty for a picture of the beach lit up before we found the fish market. 

Rawai Beach at night

As divers it was quite shocking to see more species of fish on market stalls than we regularly do in the sea.  There was everything, from lobsters, crayfish and small fish to beautifully patterned coral groupers and even a large cuttlefish.  You could buy what you fancied and then the restaurant over the street offered to barbecue it for you. No thanks.  We considered buying the cuttlefish to rescue it, but I think after they’d shoved it in a bag and we’d run to the water’s edge it may have been an ex-cuttlefish.  Besides, it would be quite an effort to try to keep this up all around Thailand!

Our appetites diminished, we wandered off to find a bar to get a drink instead.  They had live music on from 830pm, so we thought we’d go along to support the arts.  We shouldn’t have.  They were dire, but funny.  They completely mullered ‘Hey Jude’ and went on to try and play some Carlos Santana.  It was time to leave.

Do I look like I was enjoying the band?!?